Covent Garden

Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End. The first walled garden had been laid out by 1200, and it was named "Covent Garden" in 1515 after a Benedictine monastery (convent). After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1540, King Henry VIII took Covent Garden for himself, and the Russell family held the land from 1694 to 1918. By the 18th century, Covent Garden had become a well-known red light district, and a permanent market hall was built in 1830 to turn Covent Garden into a trading center. By the 2000s, the former vegetable market had become a covered shopping center with a wide variety of food, fashion, souvenir, and other venues.